


Ships in the Night

by Fides



Category: Hornblower (TV)
Genre: Flash Fic, M/M, Masturbation, Merry Month of Masturbation Challenge, mmom, mmom 2008, mmom 2008: day 1
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-05-01
Updated: 2008-05-01
Packaged: 2017-10-03 01:19:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fides/pseuds/Fides
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Ships that pass in the night, and speak each other in passing:<br/>Only a signal shown, and a distant voice in the darkness;<br/>So on the ocean of life, we pass and speak one another,<br/>Only a look and a voice, then darkness again and a silence."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ships in the Night

He should have been asleep hours ago, sleep was a scarce commodity on board ship and the sensible man grabbed it when he could. William had always thought of himself as a sensible man... until he met Horatio.

Even in the dark William can identify the sounds of the other Lieutenant undressing; the whisper of cloth against cloth speaking of the delights that lay hidden within their veil.

The rustle of fabric ceased too swiftly. One didn't undress completely, not when all-hands could be sounded at any moment, but that didn't stop William's imagination from borrowing deeper, remembering the tempting curves and plains of skin that Horatio's propensity for showers on deck had revealed to the world. Pale as sailcloth but, William's imagination assured him, immeasurably softer to touch. And he wanted to touch. Against the rules of God and man, against sanity and reason, he wanted to touch.

William tugged open the fastenings of his leggings, slipping his hand inside before wit reasserted itself. He was hard, had been ever since the flip-flap of the curtain heralded the Horatio's return from watch. The creak of rope as Horatio climbed into his hammock covered the creak of William's own bed as he shifted, fingers curling around the hot flesh of his erection.

William's low groan was lost in Horatio's sigh as the other man allowed himself to relax after his shift on duty, the canvas wrapping itself around him in the way that William wished he could. He imagined he could taste the sweat on Horatio's skin in the sea air, feel the sailor's calluses that roughened Horatio's hand rather than his own as they rasped along his cock.

How many nights had they both lain, no more than a metre from each other, not speaking because there was nothing they could say. All there could be was two hammocks, swaying together within the belly of the speeding ship.


End file.
